Moyes: I won't ever better the great Sir Alex at Manchester United

There is more than one way to approach the impossible job, it seems. One way is to rail against the reason it is so hard, as Brian Clough did when attempting to defend an English league title won by Don Revie at Leeds in 1974.

‘You can chuck all your f*****g medals in the bin,’ raged Clough at the Leeds players on arriving at Elland Road. He lasted just 44 days.

Another way is to embrace what you inherit, pay your dues and then, over time, try to do things your own way. That, it would appear, is the way forward that David Moyes has chosen at Manchester United.

It won't happen: David Moyes has admitted he will never be able to best Sir Alex Ferguson

Fergie time: Moyes and Ferguson share a joke as opposing managers in the past

Tried and failed: Brian Clough attempted to take Leeds by storm but left after 44 days

Asked this week what it was like, for
example, to inherit Sir Alex Ferguson’s office at United’s training
ground, Moyes revealed: ‘Even sitting in the chair for the first time
felt odd.

‘I actually did it
myself with nobody looking. I thought I would have to see how it feels
in case anybody thought I looked stupid. I still go into the office and
feel... well, look, Sir Alex is still here and he will be.

‘I have to take over from someone who I will not be better than. It will not get better than Sir Alex Ferguson. It just won’t.

‘But
I will use him for advice. He will be a great mentor. I am looking
forward to speaking with him. I have probably had half a dozen
conversations with him already.

‘I went to see him at home the other day. He was great. He is recovering from his hip operation.

‘I
think it is just taking over from someone... it is going to be very
hard for anybody to get close. But I have worked hard to get to this
position and I am going to work hard to maintain Manchester United at
the top of the league.’

United’s
season begins at Swansea on Saturday evening. Remarkably, Moyes is the
first manager in England brought in from outside a club to try and
retain a league title won by somebody else since Clough’s disastrous
spell at Leeds 39 years ago.

On three occasions since, men have been promoted from within to try and do the same.

Joe
Fagan replaced Bob Paisley after Liverpool’s title win of 1983, Colin
Harvey stepped up at Everton in 1987 while Kenny Dalglish’s chair at
Blackburn was filled by his assistant Ray Harford in 1995.

Interestingly, only Fagan was successful, winning the old Division One in his first season.

Rare: Liverpool's Joe Fagan (left, with Ian Callaghan) was able to follow up Bob Paisley's success with more

Moyes,
as you expect, understands the scale of the challenge but claimed at
the official launch of the Premier League season this week that his
players have already given him cause for optimism.

‘Usually you take over because a manager has been sacked or the team isn’t doing well,’ he said.

‘This
is completely different so it’s a different challenge. But it’s a club
that has always had to make progress and to change and that will happen
with me over the next couple of years.

‘I
have no doubt there will be a lot of progress and change I will
implement. But the previous manager left things in place and left me the
winning mentality. They have won the league and now it’s, "Let’s win
the next one". That kind of thing is difficult to say in words what it’s
like. But, when you are in there, you see it and you feel it.’

There
is not a manager in the game who has arrived at a new posting without
recognising things about his new environment he doesn’t like. It’s quite
natural and Moyes is no different.

Clough tore photographs from the
wall at Elland Road and, even if he didn’t actually take an axe to
Revie’s desk, as David Peace’s book The Damned United depicted, he may
as well have done. While Moyes will certainly not be doing any of that,
he recognised this week that there may be some gentle resistance over
time to some of the things he tries to do.

Great Scot! Moyes has appreciated being able to call on managerial great Ferguson for advice

‘Of course there will,’ he said. ‘But winning is the job and, if you didn’t win here, then people would be asking questions.

‘It
might take me 18 months to two years to get things changed around. But,
at a club like Manchester United, I will get the opportunity to do
that. There might be other clubs where you wouldn’t. Things are done
correctly at this club and I am aware of that already.

They want to do
things with honour. There is a real, I was going to say, template that
is in place about how you conduct yourself. I have been made aware of
it. Not in any great rule book but over a conversation and talking
about the things that have happened at the club.

‘I understand that.’

If
Moyes has had to be something of a sponge this summer, absorbing
information and protocols on the hoof, then the essence of his own
style, his character, remains.

His
conversations with the Premier League over fixtures this week were
perhaps unwise and unnecessary but at least he had the self-confidence
to pick up the telephone to do it.

Challenge: Moyes has not had the easiest of beginnings to his career as United boss

As
he has said himself, this is his Manchester United now. It’s how he
wants it to be and, in conversation with Ferguson at his house last
week, it became clearer to Moyes that it is how his predecessor feels it
should be, too.

‘I said,
"This is how things are going, what are you thinking?" He is going to be
someone who is around. I want him to be around.

‘The
day he offered me the job [in May] he didn’t feather it. He told me
straight what it was going to be like. He would now expect me to get on
and do the job myself. What has to happen is the club has to keep moving
forward and progressing.

‘I
do think that I am ready. In my mind I have landed the biggest job.
Yes, I am a rookie at Manchester United but I am not a rookie overall. I
hope I am able to show that as the seasons progress.’

Why Moyes should be wary of Swansea - Riath Al-Samarrai

David Moyes might be the new man at Manchester United, but there have also been a few changes at Swansea. This is what Moyes can expect at the Liberty Stadium...

It’s not all about Michu

Michael Laudrup has been rather cryptic when discussing the motivations behind his summer tantrum, but he was clear on one thing throughout – Swansea City needed a target man. Last season, Michu did the heavy lifting, scoring 22 goals. Due to a lack of attacking options, Laudrup often used him as a striker, which, while effective, took him away from the advanced midfielder role he prefers. By splashing out £12million on Wilfied Bony, who scored 31 goals in 30 games for Vitesse Arnhem last season, Laudrup has brought in a proven hitman and enabled Michu to have more influence in the middle.

Style kings

Swansea still play with a wonderful fluency built on short passes and aggressive widemen, but Laudrup was concerned they might get found out. By bringing in Bony, a bulky yet mobile Ivorian, Laudrup has a proper Plan B. In the two Europa League games against Malmo, in which Bony scored twice, it quickly became apparent that he will be the target for long balls, particularly from Ashley Williams. Michu was a decent target for those balls last season, but it was not an option used often. Crucially, Bony also wins a lot of headers in his own box, which is important considering Swansea conceded a league-high 38 per cent of goals to set pieces last season. Leon Britton said: ‘In training, if there’s a ball to be won in the air you don’t want to jump against him because he’ll take you out.’

New depth

More than £20m was spent in the summer on six first-team players. Whereas last season Swansea looked thin on the bench, they now have two good options for every position. Given their high intensity pressing when chasing possession, this will make the team far less vulnerable to fatigue late in matches. Jonjo Shelvey and Jose Canas look to be particularly good signings and far more rotation is expected.

Pressing matters

David Moyes has proven that he knows how to beat Swansea. The idea is to press them high and hard and disrupt their rhythm. Everton remain one of the few teams Swansea have not beaten in the league. United will have to work hard when they are not in possession, which, given his apparent conditioning, might preclude Anderson from selection.

Volcanic Ash?

In this fixture last season, Sir Alex Ferguson suggested Williams ‘could have killed’ Robin van Persie when he booted a ball at the Dutchman’s head after the whistle. Laudrup has assured the press that Williams does not have murderous Volcanic Ash? In this fixture last season, Sir Alex Ferguson suggested Williams ‘could have killed’ Robin van Persie when he booted a ball at the Dutchman’s head after the whistle. Laudrup has assured the press that Williams does not have murderous intentions.